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It’s quite normal for the prices of shares and other investments to go up and down – especially when there’s uncertainty due to oil price fluctuations and coronavirus (Covid-19). The recent volatility has reinforced the importance of being in a suitable fund choice – or mix of investments – to match a range of matters including the overall purpose of an investment, how long someone will be... Read more Read more

Anyone checking their KiwiSaver Scheme balance in recent weeks may have noticed a sharp drop in value. The culprit is the fall in local and global share values (sometimes called equities or stocks) due to the coronavirus – COVID19. This fall has also affected other managed funds and those who directly hold share portfolios. There is no need to panic.... Read more Read more

Anyone checking their KiwiSaver balance too often might have noticed a sharp drop in value over the last week or two. This applies to non-KiwiSaver investments too, because the underlying investments that have been impacted the most are shares (sometimes called equities or stocks), which has resulted in many different types of managed funds and, of course, directly held share portfolios all... Read more Read more

Interest rates are at record lows and have been falling for some time now. This is good for first home buyers (who can expect low interest rates, which helps them gain homeownership by reducing the regular mortgage repayment required), but has a bad impact on those keeping significant sums of cash in the bank without good reason. So, how bad have things got for savers? To answer, let’s... Read more Read more

From April 1^st, 2020, you’ll be hit with a whopping 45% "non-declaration rate" on interest and dividends if you fail to give the interest payer your IRD number. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD, who collect taxes for the NZ government) has issued new guidance on resident withholding tax (RWT) for interest and dividends from bank accounts and investments. RWT is the type of... Read more Read more

A reserve mortgage is a loan that can enable an ‘asset rich, cash poor’ older homeowner to access the value held in their property by taking out a loan secured against their home. There are usually no regular repayments on the loan. This means the homeowner will receive capital – i.e., money – and in exchange, they delay payment of the loan until they die, sell the home, or move out of the... Read more Read more

If you think you’re spending more at the supermarket lately, you’re probably right. That’s because NZ food price inflation has ratcheted up in price over the year to January 2020 – increasing at nearly double the rate of inflation. (Inflation is the general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money over the years). Feeding yourself - and possibly others - can... Read more Read more

Earning income is crucial to financial wellbeing, but it’s tough to earn if you’re replaced by a worker who never sleeps, gets tired, or asks for a pay rise – these workers are called robots! At first, robots will make existing jobs more productive. But ultimately, jobs will be lost as robots assume more and more of the work. One famous Oxford study went as far as suggesting that... Read more Read more

The more funding there is available to purchase homes, the more the price of homes can rise. The mortgage lending market is growing robustly according to the Reserve Bank’s latest figures, which recorded a $1.1 billion jump compared with the same month a year earlier, the fourth such increase in a row and the strongest burst of activity in four years. The total we all owe in... Read more Read more

A new survey has identified that rich people are much happier with their lives than those on middle and low incomes. Many people could have guessed that without a poll! But the reason this survey is interesting, is because a widespread range of earlier studies have shown there's a happiness "saturation point" - the mark beyond which more money doesn't have much impact on your day-to-... Read more Read more

Minimalism is growing in popularity across the world. Documentaries, podcasts, and books have been made and written about minimalism, explaining how it can change your life for the better leaving you debt free and with more time to work on personal relationships. What is minimalism? It’s difficult to define minimalism because it means something different for everyone. ... Read more Read more

When you’re house hunting, the amount you can afford to spend is all-important. After all, you don’t want to end up house poor, or worse-still, unable to maintain your mortgage repayments should your situation change, or mortgage rates substantially increase. In general, we’ll hardly ever encourage anyone to spend more on a home – in fact, the opposite is much more likely the case!... Read more Read more

The last few months have provided the perfect storm which has benefitted borrowers and punished savers. New Zealand interest rates (or more specifically, the Official Cash Rate) remained unchanged at one percent in November. This left those who’d been holding out for a further drop in mortgage rates disappointed. Given the next review is not until February, with several... Read more Read more

To help you learn from the mistakes of others, here’s a quick-fire list of the 25 worst ways people waste money: New cars. The average depreciation rate for new cars in New Zealand is 40 percent in year one, then 20 percent for the next three years. Enough said. Overpriced phones. When the newest model smartphone offers negligible benefits compared to the... Read more Read more

Interest rates on mortgages and other loans are estimated to rise by between .20 and .60 percent as a result of the Reserve Bank's decision to require banks to put an extra $20 billion of capital into their businesses. The Reserve Bank put the figure at .20 percent, while ANZ believed the impact could be up to triple that, with other estimates somewhere in between. This is because the... Read more Read more

Timing investment markets is everybody’s dream. Self-proclaimed “financial gurus” may lead you to believe they have market timing mastered, and that by following their steps you’ll be on a certain path to riches. In fact, if these self-proclaimed gurus knew how to consistently time the market the last thing they’d do is tell everyone else about it – they’d be far too occupied cruising the... Read more Read more

Many millennials are having a tough time launching their adult lives. The usual blame for this is placed on burdensome student loans, job insecurity, high housing or rent costs, and – of course –surplus cash regularly devoted to smashed avocado on toast and the latest iPhone! As a result, perhaps it’s no surprise that many parents of these grown-up children are offering financial support.... Read more Read more

The holiday period is meant to be a time for getting together, enjoying the company of family and friends, exchanging gifts, and having a good time. Unfortunately, this time of year can also be called ‘silly season’ for good reasons – including financial stresses. Putting these eight holiday financial tips into action can help you enjoy your holiday and keep your spending in check... Read more Read more

The word ‘liability’ has a strict accounting interpretation, though for the sake of this article let’s keep it simple and stick with the Oxford definition of a liability as “A person or thing that causes you a lot of problems.” The opposite of a liability is an asset, which Oxford defines as “A person or thing that is valuable or useful to somebody/something.” The... Read more Read more

The word ‘asset’ has a rigid accounting interpretation, though let’s keep things simple and stick with the Oxford dictionary definition which considers an asset to be “A person or thing that is valuable or useful to somebody/something.” In contrast, Oxford defines a liability as “A person or thing that causes you a lot of problems.” Most of us understand financial... Read more Read more